There’s Mah to come from reborn Riyad

OVERLOOKED MIDFIELDER HAS DRIVEN BLUES TO VITAL WINS

SERGIO Aguero’s record-breaking hat-trick captured the attention, but it was Riyad Mahrez who sparked City’s 6-1 frenzy at Aston Villa.

And the Algeria international is, more than anyone, proving to be the catalyst who could yet transform the Blues’ season.

Last season the £60m winger was stop-start – his eight goals and eight assists in 18 starts and 15 substitute appearances in Premier League and Champions League were a decent return, especially for a player who needed time to adapt and was competing for a place with in-form stars Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling.

This season he has already clocked up 17 starts and six substitute appearances, and has eight goals and 11 assists.

He is also developing a neat habit of scoring goals that matter.

He set the ball rolling at Villa Park with the first two goals, just as he broke the deadlock in the 3-0 Champions League win at Shakhtar

Donetsk and then ghosted through the Chelsea defence to set the Blues on their way to a vital win.

Mahrez was also the man who began the fightback against his old club Leicester, bagging the equaliser.

He cut a frustrated figure last season, fully aware that Pep Guardiola simply had to keep playing Bernardo, who was brilliantly consistent throughout.

The Portugal star pinned down the wide right berth with David Silva, Fernandinho, Kevin de

Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan the preferred midfielders, and that left little room for Mahrez.

He was simply unfortunate that he was contending for a place with two players who were not only in top form, but are rarely injured and have incredible powers of recovery.

Bernardo, understandably, has been unable to sustain the levels of mental and physical tuning which he had while distracted by the furore surrounding his racist tweet and Mahrez has seized his chance.

Now it is a real contest, with Bernardo showing signs of getting his mojo back. Last week at Old Trafford he was back to his best, crashing a shot into the top corner and then masterminding the other two as City blew away the Reds in the first half.

And when he got a well-earned rest at Villa Park, Mahrez stepped in to shoulder the burden of inspiring a victory.

Guardiola has shown a greater willingness to employ Bernardo in central midfield, with David Silva nearing the end of his time at the club, and the manager has also insisted on an improvement in Mahrez’s defensive work which has yielded fruit.

So, not only is the competition for the right-wing spot intense, Mahrez’s improvements have also ratcheted up the tension in central midfield. And with Leroy Sane due back in the next few weeks, Raheem Sterling needs to snap out of his dip in form, or he could find himself fighting for a place which he has tied down for a couple of years.

The crunch is coming in terms of the battle for places in the front five, and with Aymeric Laporte ready to bolster the back five, City are well set for a strong finish to the season.

Stuart Brennan